Gate.



Patented Mar. 25, I902.

J. B. CLARK.

6 AT E.

(Application filed Dec. 19, 1901 (llo llodel.)

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES RALPH CLARK, OF LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N 696,163, dated March 25, 1902. Application filed December 19, 1901. Serial No. 86,550. (No model.)

a citizen of the United States, residing atLexington, in the county of Fayette and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Gate, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in gates.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of swinging gates, more especially the means for operating the same, and to provide a simple, inexpensive,

and efficient device adapted to prevent any dead-center and capable of locking the gate in its closed position and of holding it open.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gate provided with operating mechanism constructed in accordance with this invention, the gate being closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the arrangement of the links when the gate is open. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are detail views illustrating the con struction of the operating mechanism. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view illustrating the arrangement of the double-flared opening of the upper link.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw ings.

1 designates a swinging gate, mounted in any suitable manner on a hinge-post 2 and adapted to close against a post or upright 3. The gate, which may be constructed in any desired manner, is connected by an eyebolt at with the upper or outer end 5 of a link 6, and the latter is pivoted by a fastening device 7 to the inner end of a lower link 8. The

upper or outer end of the link 6 is provided arm 9, which is adapted when the gate is closed to overlap the link 8 and engage the same'to limit the movement of the parts to form a straight brace, as illustrated in Fig. 1, for holding the gate in its closed position. The link 8 consists of a pair of bars, and the arm 9 is bent adjacent to the pivot 7 to offset it from the plane of the body portion of the link to arrange it beyond the link 8 when the parts are arranged as shown in Fig. 1 to permit the said arm 9 to engagea shank 10 of 2. lug or arm 11. The lug or arm 11, which preferably consists of a casting, ex tends from one side of the link 8 and is arranged between the ends of the link 8 and at a-distance from the pivot 7 to enable the operating mechanism to swing the link 8 be yond the center or beyond a perpendicular position, whereby when operating-levers 12 are released the links will drop downward by gravity and complete the movement of the gate. The arm is enlarged to fit over the edges of the bars which form the link 8, and the shank 10 of the arm 11 is interposed between the bars of the link 8 and is secured to the same by a suitable fastening device. The pivot 7, which connects the links, passes through an opening 13 of the upper link, and this opening 13 is flared at each side of the link 6 to permit the latter to have a limited lateral play between the bars of the link 8.

The outer end of the lug or arm 11 is provided with a perforation 14: for the reception of a pivot 15 of a rod 16, which preferably has its lower end bent at right angles to form such pivot. The upper portion of the connecting-rod is forked, and the sides 17 of the fork are connected by short chains 18 with the inner ends of the operating-levers 12, and the latter are fulcrumed between their ends on uprights 13 and 1e, located at opposite sides of the hinge-posts, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The gate is adapted to swing from the post3to the upright 13. When the'gate is closed, the links are arranged in an inclined position,and the arm 11 extends downward from the lower link. The operating-levers are provided at their outer ends with depending devices to enable them to be readily operated from the ground or from a vehicle, and when the outer arm of either of the operating levers is swung downward the lower link will be swung upward, and by reason of the laterally-extending arm 11 it will be carried beyond a Vertical position to prevent any dead-center and to cause the weight of the links to complete the movement of the gate. When the gate is open, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the links 6 and 8 are arranged at an acute angle to each other, and the lower link must be swung upward to close the gate, and it will operate to hold the gate in its open position. The lower ends of the bars of the link 8 are spread or laterally ofifset from each other and are perforated for the reception of a pivot 19 for securing the link to a short post or stake 20, and the latter is provided at its top with slots or bifurcations to receive the said bars.

It will be seen that the device is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction and that it can be readily applied to a gate.

\Vhat I claim is 1. The combination with a swinging gate, of a lower link composed of a pair of bars spaced apart and pivoted at their lower ends, an upperlink pivoted between the upper ends of the said bars and connected to the gate and provided with an arm arranged to project beyond its pivot, an arm 11 secured between the bars of the lower link and overlapped by the arm of the upper link, and operating mechanism connected with the arm 11.

2. The combination with a swinging gate,

ofa lower link composed of a pair of bars spaced apart and pivoted at theirlower ends, an arm secured at an intermediate point between the bars of the lower link, an upper link connected to the gate and provided near its lower end with an oppositely-flared opening, a pivot passing through the said opening and connecting the links, the lower portion of the upper link forming an arm for overlapping the lower link and engaging the arm 11, and operating mechanism connected with the latter.

3. The combination with a swinging gate, of a lower link-pivoted at its lower end and composed of a pair of bars spaced apart, a laterally-extending arm 11 having a shank secured between the bars, the upper link connected at its upper end to the gate and pivoted near its lowerend between the said bars, the lower portion of the upper link forming an arm for overlapping the lower link and engaging the said shank, a rod pivoted to the arm 11 and having a forked upper portion, and operating-levers connected with the forked portion of said rod.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aifixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

' JAMES RALPH CLARK.

\Vitnesses:

W. W. CLARK, T. H. BRoWN. 

